LOGINETHAN’S POVI slipped into the lecture hall twenty minutes early, picked my usual spot, very last row in the tightest corner, and tried to disappear. My hands were still shaking from the morning, from the stranger’s gray eyes that looked too much like Kai’s, from the way my heart kept ricocheting between hope and dread. I pulled my books out slowly, lining them up like armor, my hoodie pulled low over my face.Students started pouring in, laughing, gossiping, alive in a way I hadn’t felt in days. I kept my gaze on my desk, tracing the carved initials of people who didn’t have to wonder if the man they loved was a killer.Then the door opened again, and I felt him before I saw him.That same tall frame from the quad filled the doorway, scanning the room with lazy confidence. His eyes landed on me instantly. A slow smile curved his mouth, friendly, warm, and completely disarming.My stomach flipped, instantly.He started walking straight toward me.No, No no no.I dropped my gaze to m
ETHAN’S POV I woke up tasting salt and regret.The morning light slicing through the blinds felt like punishment. My eyes were swollen, crusty from crying all night, and I was still wearing Kai’s clothes: his oversized black T-shirt and the gray sweat-shorts that uses to smell like safety and now just smelled like goodbye.I hadn’t taken them off. I’d stumbled through the front door last night, ignored my dad’s startled “Ethan?” and locked myself in my room. Then I’d curled into a ball on the bed and cried until my throat was raw and my pillow was soaked. I kept checking my phone every thirty seconds, waiting for something, anything: a text, a call, a single word that said come back. But there was nothing. The screen stayed cruelly blank.He hadn’t followed me. He’d stood in that garage and watched me walk away without moving a muscle. Maybe he’d been relieved. Maybe the second I accused him of being a coward, maybe when I had looked him in the eye and used a cursed words.I dr
ETHAN’S POV I was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed when he stepped out of the bathroom, towel slung low on his hips, another one rubbing roughly through his wet hair. Water still traced the lines of his chest, sliding over the ridges of muscle and the stark white bandage that covered his side. He looked unfairly beautiful, dangerous in that quiet way that used to make my knees weak, but now, it just made my stomach knot. “You good?” he asked, voice soft, careful. I swallowed. “I’m fine. Just… waiting for you.” He gave me a small, crooked smile and reached for a black T-shirt from the dresser. The movement was quick, practiced, but I still caught a flash of the scar beneath the bandage before the fabric covered it. But I never saw a scar on his chest. My breath hitched, and he noticed. Of course he noticed. “Come here,” he murmured, opening his arms. I went without thinking. I always did. He lifted me easily, hands sliding under my thighs, settling me against his
ETHAN’S POV The walk to the park had been torture.We moved side by side, but it felt like there was a canyon between us. Kai kept his hands clasped behind his back, pace slow and measured, matching my shorter strides without seeming to try. I kept stealing glances at him: the sharp line of his jaw, the way the wind tugged at his dark hair, the blank mask he’d worn since the pizza last night. Every time our eyes almost met I jerked mine away, heart racing like I’d been caught doing something unforgivable.Which, in a way, I had.The park wasn’t crowded. A few kids shrieked on the swings, a couple walked a dog, an old man fed pigeons. Normal life. It made the silence between us feel even heavier.“Should we get ice cream?” Kai asked suddenly, nodding toward the pastel-colored van parked under the oaks.The question was so ordinary it threw me. “Uh… yeah. Sure.”We walked over. I ordered vanilla with strawberry topping because my brain couldn’t handle decisions right now. The lady beh
ETHAN'S POV“Ethan?” Kai’s voice, low and muffled through the door. “Baby, it’s me.”Relief and panic crashed together so violently I almost threw up.My palms were slick with sweat. My borrowed shorts had dark brown streaks across the thigh where I’d wiped my fingers. I could smell the metallic tang of old blood on my skin.Another knock, gentle. “Ethan? You okay?”“Coming!” I croaked, voice cracking. I sounded guilty as hell.I bolted for the bathroom, turned the faucet on full blast, splashed cold water on my face, scrubbed my hands until they stung. The mirror showed a wild-eyed boy with flushed cheeks and trembling lips. I looked like I’d just committed a crime.Because I kind of had.I grabbed a towel, dried my face, tried to slow my breathing. Inhale four, hold four, exhale four. It didn’t work.The knock came again, softer. “Baby, open the door. You’re scaring me.”I forced my legs to move. Every step felt like walking through quicksand. I reached the door, hands shaking so ba
ETHAN’S POV I curled my toes, at the wild sensation of this, then I felt his hands cupped my cheek. "Look at me, Ethan."He said calmly, as he moved my face to his sides."I said you should go. You don't have to worry about me."I muttred.He sighed. "I’m coming back. I’m not disappearing again. I’m not leaving you. Do you hear me?” I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to. But all I could see was the way he’d walked out to that balcony, the way he’d hidden the phone, the way he was dressing like a man preparing for war instead of a Tuesday afternoon. I nodded anyway, because I didn’t have the strength to fight. "If you say so."I muttred.He kissed my forehead, hard and desperate, then my lips, tasting my tears. “Few minutes, I'll be back” he whispered again. “Lock the door behind me. Don’t open for anyone but me.” He got off the bed, as he head to the door, and then he was gone. The door clicked shut. I stayed on the bed long after the door clicked shut, curled on m







